Products and Services

Today’s global economy offers more opportunities, but is also more complex and competitive than ever before. This fact leads to a wide range of research activity in different fields of interest, especially in the so-called high-tech sectors. This book is a result of widespread research and development activity from many researchers worldwide, covering the aspects of development activities in general, as well as various aspects of the practical application of knowledge

ESL: second language teaching and social control.

This study examines the development of English as a Second Language\ud (ESL) teaching for adults as a distinct discipline from the period of\ud its inception until the mid-1980s when it appears to have been well on\ud the way to its constitution as and acceptance as a separate discipline.\ud The history of ESL provision is established from interviews and from the\ud literature, and competition between paradigms is discussed. The ESL\ud provision in one borough in the London region is examined, and\ud particular attention paid to the ideas and views of teachers who\ud appeared to be undergoing a transformation from what could best be\ud described as voluntary workers to professionals. Interviews with\ud potential students are discussed because their ideas and concepts not\ud only came into conflict with the received wisdom of ESL, but also had an\ud effect upon the development of the subject. Particular attention is\ud paid to women students because of their importance to the development of\ud ESL.\ud The thesis addresses itself practically to debates within ESL about\ud its context and its politics, and academically to discussions about the\ud relation of education to "race", gender and class. Additionally, it\ud discusses the relationship between changes within the curriculum and\ud outside social aims and social forces. Here the professionalisation of\ud ESL is of importance: the thesis links the claims and practices of the\ud new professionals to their working-conditions on the one hand, and\ud issues of social control on the other.\ud A crisis accompanied the establishment of ESL as a subject which\ud was both financial (fear of cuts) and ideological (challenges to the old\ud approach). Two ways of seeing the work have competed: assimilationist\ud views linked to ESL's welfare origins which saw "the need for English"\ud as self-evident; and a pluralist discourse emphasising "bilingualism".\ud Interviews with potential students showed that "the need for English"\ud was not staightforward; but the pluralist discourse in ESL was\ud stimulated by a struggle for professional status within education rather\ud than by increased proximity to students. It was found that though\ud pluralist views were put forward in ESL publications, the\ud assimilationist discourse was widespread among tutors, who were unlikely\ud to give up their freedom to define the work as they chose unless\ud improvements to their working-conditions were available. The need for\ud an alternative to both is discussed.\ud The thesis is in three parts. Following a chapter on theory and\ud method, the first section (chapters 2 and 3) examines the development of\ud ESL up to the mid-1980s. The welfare origins of ESL and its development\ud into an educational subject are discussed.\ud The second section (chapters 4 and 5) draws on fieldwork in an\ud outer London borough in 1984-5 to describe the different sorts of ESL\ud provision there and discuss the teachers' views of the work.\ud The third section (chapters 6 and 7) explores issues of potential\ud students' approaches to ESL classes. Chapter 6 considers factors\ud affecting adults' approaches to learning new languages and to formal\ud education, and chapter 7 discusses interviews with potential students of\ud ESL in the same outer London borough to compare with the ideas of\ud providers.\ud In conclusion, chapter 8 discusses the implications of the work of\ud ESL in terms of social control. The importance of the curriculum is\ud stressed, and alternatives to assimilationist and pluralist conceptions\ud argued

Education and Social Work handbook

2005 handbook for the faculty of Education and Social Wor

Challenges for engineering students working with authentic complex problems

Engineers are important participants in solving societal, environmental and technical problems. However, due to an increasing complexity in relation to these problems new interdisciplinary competences are needed in engineering. Instead of students working with monodisciplinary problems, a situation where students work with authentic complex problems in interdisciplinary teams together with a company may scaffold development of new competences. The question is: What are the challenges for students structuring the work on authentic interdisciplinary problems? This study explores a three-day event where 7 students from Aalborg University (AAU) from four different faculties and one student from University College North Denmark (UCN), (6th-10th semester), worked in two groups at a large Danish company, solving authentic complex problems. The event was structured as a Hackathon where the students for three days worked with problem identification, problem analysis and finalizing with a pitch competition presenting their findings. During the event the students had workshops to support the work and they had the opportunity to use employees from the company as facilitators. It was an extracurricular activity during the summer holiday season. The methodology used for data collection was qualitative both in terms of observations and participants’ reflection reports. The students were observed during the whole event. Findings from this part of a larger study indicated, that students experience inability to transfer and transform project competences from their previous disciplinary experiences to an interdisciplinary setting

Exploring the practical use of a collaborative robot for academic purposes

This article presents a set of experiences related to the setup and exploration of potential educational uses of a collaborative robot (cobot). The basic principles that have guided the work carried out have been three. First and foremost, study of all the functionalities offered by the robot and exploration of its potential academic uses both in subjects focused on industrial robotics and in subjects of related disciplines (automation, communications, computer vision). Second, achieve the total integration of the cobot at the laboratory, seeking not only independent uses of it but also seeking for applications (laboratory practices) in which the cobot interacts with some of the other devices already existing at the laboratory (other industrial robots and a flexible manufacturing system). Third, reuse of some available components and minimization of the number and associated cost of required new components. The experiences, carried out following a project-based learning methodology under the framework of bachelor and master subjects and thesis, have focused on the integration of mechanical, electronic and programming aspects in new design solutions (end effector, cooperative workspace, artificial vision system integration) and case studies (advanced task programming, cybersecure communication, remote access). These experiences have consolidated the students' acquisition of skills in the transition to professional life by having the close collaboration of the university faculty with the experts of the robotics company.Postprint (published version